The
last two Fridays have been very interesting
for the Tamil cinema buffs. Well, it is
not just the last two Fridays. But every
Friday since April because of the back
to back releases that we have been having
from that period. However, the last two
should be special for very small and distinct
reasons that are generally not part of
mainstream cinema. Deivathirumagal and
Kanchana have broken stereotypes in the
most unlikely of manners and we owe them
a big round of applause for doing so.

So, what stereotypes are we talking about?
Is it the superhero image of Vikram which
was invisible in DT or the fearless attitude
of the Tamil hero in general which was
broken down in Kanchana?

Neither, because we all know that these stereotypes
have been broken before, by the same people! Vikram
has made it the norm that people expect the unexpected
from him. He never repeats himself and never shies
away from something challenging and Raghava Lawrence
has already done the ‘Courage-The Cowardly hero’
routine in Muni. So, there is not much you can say
about stereotypes of both these actors. So, what is
the stereotype that we are talking about?

Both the movies have portrayed differently abled or
challenged people in a way that Tamil cinema (even
Indian cinema) has not dared or willed to do over
all these decades. Take for instance Deivathirumagal;
the central character is a person suffering from developmental
problems of the brain. To broadly put it, the film
tries to portray the life of a mentally challenged
adult. It is not often in Indian cinema that we get
portrayals of mental disability that transcend the
realm of the exaggerated and overdone depictions of
their problems. Often, the concept of the mental disability
or unwellness has been stretched in order to give
excuses for showing violence or crass comedy. Think
of Anniyan – while still being an entertaining
film, it chose to stretch the concepts of multiple
personality disorder to make Anniyan and Remo out
of Ambi. Or think of the Hindi Krazzy 4, which took
four people with different mental complications, put
them in one film and created situation after situation
where one or the other of them got into trouble (comedy).
Instances like these abound and mental disturbances
are generally used as tools by the director as a perfect
cover for a character to go berserk – like what
Fazil did with Shobhana in Manichithrathazhu. But,
Deivathirumagal chose to be different from all these.
Showing that a mental condition need not mean that
a person no longer has hope in life; showing that
an affected person need not be as inefficient in judging
things as we have so long made out to be in movies;
showing that with a little bit of understanding and
help, they can lead normal lives. Unfortunately, our
cinema has always only chosen to build an image of
mentally affected people as unpredictably violent
and juvenile in judgment. Kudos to Vijay and through
him to the makers of I am Sam.

And about Kanchana! It has broken the decades old
stereotype of the transgender. We can perhaps say
that this is one stereotype that has endured for the
longest in Indian cinema. The one and only thing about
transgenders that cinema has chosen to show over the
decades are their queer dancing, clapping and cash
extortion habits. It is almost as if they do not have
another side or life to them. This in spite of the
fact that there have been MPs from this section of
the population! One need not talk too much about the
way they have been shown on screen, everyone who has
followed Indian cinema knows only too well that they
have been used for nothing more than crassly banal
humor or to create a sense of aversion towards a place
or character. Mostly, it has been the former; there
have been a few cases of the latter, like Prakash
Raj’s role in Appu. And, to think of it, the
films only reflect the reality in society, because
that is the only way that we see transgenders in real
life too, perhaps because they are excluded from the
mainstream of society. And, cinema has only reinforced
such stereotypes. But, Kanchana so bravely went against
it. It is surprising that such a bold step was taken
in a film that is unapologetically commercial. Kanchana
is perhaps the first portrayal of a transgenders in
Indian cinema as people with dignity and high aims
in life. Perhaps it is a cue for other films to pick
up and stop the crass portrayal.

And, a special word to honor the courage of Raghava
Lawrence and Sarath Kumar. This must be the bravest
casting decision of the decade – Sarath Kumar
as an effeminate character! An actor known for his
action, his iron man physique, a man who once carried
the titles of Superhero and Supreme Star! It is really
unbelievable that he showed the gumption to take up
the character when it was offered. But, even greater
applause is due to Raghava Lawrence for having the
vision and courage to approach him with the role.
A small error could have toppled the entire film because
the character is the key to the plot.

It has been two weeks of good cinema, from opposite
ends of the spectrum. But, they both had one thing
in common; they chose to break social and cinematic
stereotypes.